Son of Suriname president plead guilty to drug, other charges in US court

Dino Bouterse, the son of Suriname President Desi Bouterse, has pleaded guilty to charges of attempting to aid the Lebanese paramilitary group, Hezbollah, and conspiring to import cocaine into the United States.

The guilty plea came yesterday during his appearance in a Federal Court in the State of New York.

The younger Bouterse, who once held a senior counter-terrorism post in the Dutch-speaking country, now faces a sentence of between 15 years and life in prison.

Prosecutors say Dino Bouterse invited people he believed to be from Hezbollah to establish a base in Suriname that would be used to attack Americans in exchange for an initial payment of 2 million US dollars.